Marshall defensive tackle dead at 19

Marshall defensive tackle Larry Aaron III died on Thursday because of complications with treatment from a gunshot wound that left him paralyzed in January.

Aaron was pronounced dead at Frederick Memorial Hospital in Frederick, Md. He was 19.

“We lost an incredible young man today,” Marshall coach Doc Holliday said in a statement. “The entire Herd family is praying for Larry Aaron’s family.”

Aaron’s gunshot wound was suffered on Jan. 1 because he threw his body in front of his girlfriend when shots were fired at a party. He spent the following 5 weeks in the hospital before he went home in the beginning of February.

As a redshirt freshman in 2017, Aaron recorded 13 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss in 8 games.

Marshall was already planning a fundraiser at the men’s basketball game on Saturday. T-shirts with ’93Strong’ will be sold with all funds going to the family’s medical expenses.

Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.